[2] She graduated magna cum laude from Spelman College in 1980 and from Georgetown University Law Center in 1984.
Smith is also the Project Director for the United States Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections Cooperative Agreement for the Project on Addressing Prison Rape.
[2][5] Smith was appointed to the Prison Rape commission by current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
[6] Smith's writing focuses on the intersections of gender, crime and sexuality.
[citation needed] Her publications include Battering, Forgiveness and Redemption;[7] Rethinking Prison Sex: Self -Expression and Safety, Symposium on Sexuality and the Law;[8] Sexual Abuse of Women in Prison: A Modern Corollary of Slavery;[9] Uncomfortable Places, Close Spaces: Theorizing Female Correctional Officers' Sexual Interactions with Men and Boys in Custody;[10] and Boys, Rape and Masculinity, Reclaiming Male Narrative of Sexual Violence in Custody.